The response of high-purity germanium detectors to X-rays with energy in the region of the Ge K-absorption edge

The response of a high-purity germanium detector to X-rays in the 8–15-keV energy region has been investigated. The w-value and energy resolution dependencies on the X-ray energy have been studied. No abrupt variation of w is observed at the germanium K absorption-edge (11.104-keV). The detector energy resolution follows a characteristic linear dependence on Ex−1/2 over the whole energy range. Both features are consistent with the absence of intrinsic non-linearity effects in germanium at the K-edge.